Sunday, January 25, 1998Last modified at 2:50 a.m. on Sunday, January 25, 1998

Head-on collision kills Tech student

4 others injured in pre-dawn crash

By MATTHEW HENRY

Avalanche-Journal

Texas Tech student Scott Bradley Williams, 18, died early Saturday morning after the car he was riding in struck another car head-on on U.S. 84 a mile outside Lubbock, authorities said.

Three other Tech students and one other person were injured in the accident, but none seriously, officials said. Williams died at 1:11 a.m. at University Medical Center.

At 12:15 a.m. Saturday, a 1989 Honda driven by Christopher Lane, 20, of Lubbock was traveling westbound on U.S. 84 - in the eastbound lane, according to DPS cotnreports. Lane and his passenger, Spencer Shanley, 19, were returning from Nibble's, a strip bar, said Cpl. Freeman Martin with the Texas Department of Public Safety. Alcohol was in the car, Martin said.

The Honda collided with an eastbound 1993 Dodge head-on. Tech student Jesse Kuchinsky, 18, was driving the Dodge, and Williams and 18-year-old Emeka Odita, both Tech students, were passengers.

Late Saturday night, Lane and Shanley were in satisfactory condition at University Medical Center. Kuchinsky had been treated and released by UMC physicians and Odita's injuries didn't require treatment at the hospital, officials said.

Everyone involved but Lane lived in Weymouth Residence Hall at Tech.

Martin said he doesn't believe speed was a factor. The speed limit along that section of U.S. 84 is 65 mph. However, "if both were doing 65 and they hit head-on, that's a heck of a collision," Martin said.

A decision about charging Lane with drunken driving will be made after his blood-alcohol tests come in, Martin said.

Williams was born in Slaton but grew up in Midland, graduating with honors from Lee High School in 1997. He was a member of the National Honor Society, German Honor Society and Alamo Heights Baptist Church.

His funeral will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Alamo Heights Baptist Church.